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Lamedon
The Ciril and upper Ringló valleys defined the province Lamedon (S."Echoing Land" or "Place of Speech"), which was the center for woolen cloth production in Gondor. Sparsely populated by Daen descended shepherd folk, the region was governed from the Town of Calembel. History Lamedon entered recorded history during the early Days of the Third Age, when the Ship-kings expanded westward. It seems that the lands around the Ciril were inhabited by people akin to the Men of the White Mountains, and that they led lives much similar to those of their descendants at the end of the Third Age. The folk of Lamedon put up no great resistance to their militarily superior conquerors, but adapted to their new status as subjects of the just and wise kings of Gondor. Noticeable remnants of the Daen culture of the Second Age included various ancient monuments and some linguistic peculiarities of the Westron spoken in Lamedon.Old words survived mainly in the specialized vocabulary pertaining to the management of Flocks and pastures. Some place-names wtre also ar least partly of Daen origin. Lamedon became a military territory as a consequence of royal expansion into the old Pelargirean sphere under the Ship-kings. In the year T.A. 1226 King Narmacil I granted the region provincial status, and Calembcl was appointed its political center. There were two other towns in Lamedon: Ossarnen, a mining town in the north, and Ethring, founded when a bridge was built across the upper Ringló. Centuries passed and Lamedon established itself as the main cloth production center in the economy of western Gondor. Other areas competed by offering shorter transports to the major cities, but they could not rival Lamedon in terms of production bulk and steadiness of supply. In time, the rough edges of pre-Númenórcan culture were gradually smoothened, and the area settled in as a tranquil part of the realm. The Kin-strife meant oppression from the Usurper's henchmen and troop conscription for the civil-war, but no battles were fought in Lamedon.Overall, the history of Lamedon was extremely peaceful apart from the Plague, when many of its folk fled into the mountains or westward, thereby spreading the infection to the Orodbedhrim and others. Lamedon was far enough from Gondor's enemies to escape the worst repercussions of the wars. Soldiers from Lamedon were, however, sent to the various fronts in a steady trickle—against the Corsairs, the Wainriders or Orcs of Mordor. The Land Lamedon was a shallow, roughly rectangular basin, consisting of the vales of the Ciril and upper Ringló rivers, surrounded by the Ered Nimrais and its foothills, opening up onto Lebennin where the Ciril joined the Ringló. These convergent rivers were fed by streams from the mountains, and ran swiftly in deeply carved courses through most of Lamedon until near the southern gap in the hills surrounding the area. There they widened and flowed tranquilly until they joined the Morthond.The Ciril was shallow enough at two points to be forded all year round, except for a couple of weeks in the early spring. The upper Ringló was crossed by a stone bridge at Ethring. The soil of Lamedon was meager, full of rocks, and at some spots barely thick enough to cover the underlying bedrock. The main road through Lamedon, the Rathon Arat, came from the southeast, crossing the Ringló by the Ethring bridge and fording the Ciril at Calembel.It then continued north-west to the western border ridge. Tarlang´s Neck, which it crossed into the Blackroot Vale at the northern extreme of Lamedon. Lesser roads followed the courses of the Ciril and the Ringló and tracks crisscrossed the landscape. The land was sheltered from the northern winds by the mountains, and enjoyed a rather stable climate, with warm, rainy summers and mild, mostly snow-free winters. Only rarely did the rivers freeze over. flora and fauna Most of Lamedon was grassland, interspersed with shrub and thorn.Sizable trees—evergreens, and the odd oak— were found only on the lower mountain slopes.This landscape was the home of rabbit and deer, upon whom fox and wolf preyed when not trying for the livestock of the folk of Lamedon. Lesser creatures of the earth and the air were numerous, and several species of fish inhabited the rivers. Politics and Power Lamedon was governed by a lord who was appointed for life. The relative independence and self-sufficiency of the shepherd-folk confined the lord's main responsibilities to the levying of taxes, the administration of justice, the mediation of contacts with the capital, and (after the Great Plague) the maintenance of the Lamedon Regiment. To fulfill these duties, he commanded a staff of clerks, tax collectors and military officers. The lord and his staff lived and worked at Ost-en-Girilthir above Calembel. Warcraft After the Kin-strife, Gondor's army was in disarray. To remedy this problem. King Eldacar of Gondor delegared some responsability for raising and maintaining military forces to his local officers. Lord Forvagor of Lamedon, a man trusted by the king, was charged with raising an entirely new infantry unit. In T.A. 1450, the Lamedon Regiment was founded, with Calembel's city guard as its basis. Its initial strength was 800 men, organized into two arkíron. Forogor was a grizzled veteran of the Kin-strife, and competently laid out the organization of a successful army company. With this background, the Lamedon Regiment was from its conception closely tied to the lord, anticipating the development which eventually led to the lords and governors becoming commanders of the local forces all over Gondor. The Lord of Lamedon was responsible for the recruitment, training, upkeep, and deployment of the Lamedon Regiment, which was stationed at Ost-en-Girilthir above Calembel. Not all lords were warriors, which sometimes led to the lord's deputy becoming the defacto commander of the regiment. Various methods of recruitment were used during different periods, and the size of the regiment varied according in the needs (i.e. the pressure upon southern Gondor's borders). Recruitment peaked during thc T.A. 1540-1551 War against Harad and Umbar, with 1000 soldiers (five arkirin), and dropped drastically as a result of the Great Plague. Since Lamedon sat so cozily with its back to the Ered Nimrais.With nothing worse than disgruntled Orodbedhnm to worry about, the regiment was used in conflicts far away, until the establishment of the King's Corps in T.A. 1643. The regiment also kept its traditional function as Calembel's city guard, keeping the peace, and acting as a fire brigade when necessary. Lamedon in T.A. 1640 *Political Organization: Lamedon: Royal Province. Morthond Vale: Subject Principality. *Rulers: Tirgarion, Lord Protector of Lamedon;Arador, Prince of Morthond. *Administrative Organization: The King chooses officers for the region from among the eleven local noble families.Morthond is an independent fief, responsible for its own administration, but subject to the Lord Protector.Daentribes pay annual tribute but play no pan in the administration of Lamedon. Land is held by the King and the nobility and is rented out to smallholders and peasants. *Population: 35.000 Dunedain. 15.000 Daen divided among six tribes. *Military: 300 Heavy Cavalry.400 Infantry.1.000 Militia (3-4 weeks to raise, attached to town garrisons).2.000 Eredrim Levy Warriors (rarely called upon). *Products: Glass, iron, zinc, lead, gems. The least significant strategically of Gondor's provinces. Lamedon was nonetheless considered far above the status of a mere territory, due to its sizeable population and rich mineral wealth.Only a small portion of Lamedon was tilled agricultural land; much remained wild and untamed. The King maintained only small garrisons there, more to keep watch on the indigenous Daen than out of fear of any invasion from the West. A "Lord Protector" appointed by the King, governed the province.The local nobility had to obey the Lord Protector as if he were the King himself, and the system worked better than might be expected. Each Lord Protector was a direct vassal of the King, but they kept a fair degree of autonomy during their five-year administrations, due to the distance between the province and Gondor's capital. Thus, the Kings of Gondor always chose the most loyal men possible for the responsibility of governing Lamedon. Often, this loyalty was won through the promise of a higher office after the term was served, and many a Lord Protector had advanced to the King's right hand. One region in northern Lamedon was ruled by a hereditary Prince, The Vale of Morthond, though dwarfed by the lands of Lamedon, kept its autonomy by means of the wealth generated in its mines. The current Prince, Arador, came to power following the mysterious disappearance of his cousin. High in the White Mountains above the Morthond, the Paths of the Dead held the remains of the Daen Coentis peoples who originally inhabited the area. Only their monuments of stone and their indirect descendants, the Eredrim, survived. Tales of ghosts and evil spirits surround the Paths of the Dead, and legend held that none save the High-king could pass through to the Vale of Dunharrow alive. The tales of old women linked the Paths to the oath which the Daen leaders swore to Elendil and subsequently broke. In the dark of the night, one could see an army of ghosts assembling by a great black stone in the Morthond Vale, waiting for the High-king to release them. Though Lamedon was known best throughout Endor for the glass produced there, most of its wealth came from the ores mined on the edge of the Ered Nimrais. Iron, zinc, and lead were all abundant on the flanks of the White Mountains, and some gems of great value were buried deep underneath the slopes. Almost all trade into Lamcdon and Morthond had to go overland. The Rivers Morthond. Ciril and Ringlo were all too swift and powerful for regular merchanttraffic. Large caravans, a necessity due to the threat of raids by Daen and bandits, regularly traveled to the cities of neighboring provinces. Due to the expense involved in overland shipping, the region was filled with sturdy, fortified towns, where merchants could easily assemble caravans and local businessmen could sell their wares to an agent who could afford the expense of the journey into Gondor's heartland.Sarn Erech in the Vale of Morthond was the best known of these towns, but Ossarnen, Calembel and Ethring all held a similar significance. The local Daen divided themselves into six large tribes, though most lived in small groups of ten to thirty individuals. They did not consider themselves part of Gondor's empire, and they had been known to raid Gondorian travellers, careful never to leave evidence as to which tribe was responsible. The tribal chieftains grudgingly paid Minas Anor an annual tribute, and this money, rather than their skill as raiders, had persuaded the King to refrain from using force to crush the Daen-folk. Gondor's Kings were willing to accept occasional raids for overall peace within their borders. A war with the Mountainmen could spark a general revolt, a risk the King was unwilling to take so soon after the Plague. Regions Aug Lamedon foothills of north-western Lamedon Lamedon Swamps Lothein Ringló Vale Setmaenen Tarlang Tarlang´s Neck Settlements and Points of Interest Achad Tarlang Angbor´s Keep Bandit Encampment Bar Elir Calembel Cûl Bîn Cûl Veleg Dínadab Dol Tarlang Ethring Fallen Beacon Gladion's farm Glanhir Haedrec's Cave Hoeg's House Lothgobel Maegond Ossarnen Rendûl Ruem's Hut Tathrendalf Characters: Men: Angbor Bruidis Candúr Corugwen Drambor Fuirion Gladion Hador Chicken-thief Haelam Hebil Laindir Limril Míreth Rilgell Rossaran Túmir Other: Great Bull Old Snapper Category:Gondor Category:Province